Location detection systems are well known in the art for tracking the location of personnel and equipment in a facility. These systems have been specifically adapted for use in facilities, such as healthcare facilities for tracking healthcare professionals, e.g., nurses and physicians, and for tracking equipment, e.g., beds, patient monitoring devices, and the like. A typical location detection system is also referred to as an asset tracking system that utilizes tags that periodically transmit a unique identification signal. Receivers are located throughout the facility at known locations for receiving these identification signals. The receivers are wired to a central computer that processes the unique identification signals to determine a location of the asset associated with the tag.
One disadvantage of such systems is that a typical asset tracking system does not utilize existing infrastructure within the healthcare facility. As a result, the capital costs necessary to provide the infrastructure to accommodate asset tracking is high. For instance, the receivers used to receive the identification signals from the tags attached to the assets being tracked must be installed throughout the healthcare facility, as well as wired to the central computer. This requires considerable labor and expense, as well as lengthy disruptions to install the wiring.
In today's healthcare facilities, networks are provided for accessing patient data, equipment data, lab results, and the like. However, with current asset tracking systems, integrating information regarding the location of mobile equipment such as patient handling devices with patient data or other data available on the network is not practical. One reason that most asset tracking systems cannot be integrated wholly with current healthcare facility networks is that these asset tracking systems are only designed to identify a particular room in which a patient handling device is located. These systems are not designed to determine a specific zone in the room in which the patient handling device is located. In some healthcare facilities each room may accommodate two, three, or more patient handling devices. Therefore, when current asset tracking systems are used, the room location of each of the patient handling devices can be determined, e.g., the patient handling devices are in room 1, but they are not sensitive enough to determine that patient handling device no. 1 is in zone 1 of room 1, patient handling device no. 2 is in zone 2 of room 1, etc. In order for current asset tracking systems to provide this level of location detail, separate receivers are needed in each zone, with each receiver being wired to the central computer. As a result, the infrastructure costs further escalate.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a location detection system that can easily be implemented in existing healthcare facilities with little capital investment and additional infrastructure while also providing specific location details that enable the location information to be fully integrated with other data such as patient data and other equipment data available on existing networks in the healthcare facility.